WORKERS COMPENSATION BOARD RETIREE S ASSOCIATION Vol. 10 Issue 1 Jan /Feb /March 2017 WCB RETIREES ASSOCIATION Inside this issue: Special points of interest: 2017 Calendar of Events Tahiti Dreams Request for memorabilia Pg New Members 5 Current Executive 1 AGM lunch and menu 3 Christmas Photos 6,7 In Memoriam 8 Contact Us 8 Mailbox 2 Annual General Meeting Date: Thursday April 13, 2017 Location: WorkSafeBC (WCB) 6951 Westminster Hwy., Richmond, BC (use the old Rehab entrance at the top of the ramp) Time: 11:00 a.m. 30 min. Demo 11:30 12:00 coffee/tea 12:00 p.m. lunch 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Meeting Short Demo 11:00 Juli Hedin of Pacific Blue Cross in a 30 min. walk-through of the online claims forms. Important Business: Election of Directors and voting on changes to the constitution and bylaws. Door Prizes Maryanne Schulz Christine Lucovic Carol Sallenback Rina Luchin Margaret Perry Eldon Johnston Carole Peterson Wendy Pantages Loraine Fraser Carol Christopher Current Executive President Secretary Treasurer Director Director Director Director Director, Editor Director, Web Master Associate Director
Page 2 Dear Carol: ( Nov. 2016) It was somewhat flattering to find my humble letter in print! Just a minor correction my name is Russell (or Russ) not Roger. No need for any assumed names at this stage. All the best for Christmas and 2017. - Russ Bowman My sincere apologies Russ for the error and thank you for the kind notes. I don t understand how I could get Roger from Russell...! - Wendy Pantages Hi Carol: (Nov. 2016) Excellent newsletter and I m delighted to receive it. Thank you and Wendy for a job well done. See you at the Christmas Luncheon. Cheers, Marge Wilke Hi Carol: (Nov. 14, 2016) The newsletter looks great. I seem to have missed the notice of the Oct. 12, 2016 luncheon meeting and thought I would email to ensure that I am on the mailing list. Thanks for all your hard work and for the work of all the other Directors. Gerry Massing (Nov 14, 2016) Thank you Carol, always enjoyable to read your quality epistle. Di Skippen IMPORTANT NOTICE REQUIRING YOUR VOTE AT THE AGM W.C.B. Retired Employees Association is a charitable society incorporated under the Society Act. In preparation for transitioning to the Societies Act (the new Act ) which came into effect November 28, 2016, the Executive are recommending changes to the constitution and bylaws to comply with the requirements of the new Act. A package of material will be sent to you prior to the AGM scheduled for Thursday, April 13, 2017. The package will include a summary of the changes being proposed, a copy of the original constitution and bylaws with the draft changes, the new proposed constitution and the new proposed bylaws and the special resolution. In order to vote on these changes, you must be present at the AGM as voting by proxy is not permitted. Notes from the Editor Please note that the 2017 Annual General Meeting will be held on a Thursday this year. Don t forget to renew your dues of $5.00 at the AGM on April 13 or send a cheque payable to the WCB Retiree Association c/o Carol Sallenback at 2555 127 th St., Surrey, BC V4A 6J8. We acquired several new members in 2016 and our total membership as of November 11, 2016 was 401. Since that time several more have joined our association. A very warm welcome to our new members! We are lucky to have in this issue an article by one of our own members on a fabulous and unique trip to Tahiti. Enjoy! In the fall everyone should have received a pamphlet called Pension Life. We are advised that our plan previously known as the Workers Compensation Board Superannuation Plan is now called the WorkSafeBC Pension Plan. They have redesigned their website and you can look up your pension information through My Account. You can register for or log on to My Account to print your own T4A, update personal information and banking details and view your pension payment dates. The site is at worksafebc.pensionsbc.ca We received a cost of living increase of 1.3% in January 2017. The amount matches the change in Canada s consumer price index from September 2015 to September 2016. And finally, think about serving as a Director on the Board of the Retiree Association. as it appears there may be an opening for a position coming up. Elections will be held at the AGM in April. Some members of the Executive have served for a while now and some are getting ready to hand the baton on. We are looking for fresh ideas from you. Bring some of your skills to this organization! @ jxçwç ctçàtzxá? Xw àéü
AGM Lunch April 13, 2017 Cost: $16.50 per person Price includes the Tip & Tax Lunch Menu Spring Mix Salad with balsamic or ranch dressing Potato Salad Caesar Salad Egg /Chicken Salad Croissant Sandwiches Vegetarian Wrap (lettuce/cucumber/tomato/cheese) Page 3 European (Salami, Black Forest Ham, Turkey, Swiss Cheese & tomato) on Ciabatta Bun Assorted Catering Cookies/Squares Assorted Mini Tarts Sliced Fresh Fruit Coffee/Tea/Water provided by WorkSafeBC The Phone Committee will be contacting you to remind you of the date and to confirm a lunch reservation. Money to be received by Carol Sallenback by March 31, 2017. Please make cheque payable to Carol Sallenback and mail directly to her at: 2555-127th St., Surrey, BC, V4A 6J8 If you do not receive a call from the Phone Committee about the AGM, please contact Carol Sallenback directly at 604-535-3090 and let her know that you would like to attend. COME JOIN US AT THE AGM! Please note: For Retirees who take the Handy Dart to the luncheon, please contact Rina beforehand at 604-253-8547 or by e-mail at rluchin@telus.net. She will arrange for you to be allowed access from the South Entrance in the Main Building and escorted to the old Rehab entrance. This must be coordinated with Security.
Tahiti Dreams - by Ishbel Kennedy Page 4 chair. We stayed at the resort for 3 nights and loved it. On November 2nd we took a taxi to the Cruise facility in Papeete where we boarded the MS Paul Gauguin Cruise Ship for our 10 day Society Islands and Tuamotus cruise. We visited Papeete, Huahine, Fakarava, Rangiroa, Taha'a, Bora Bora, and Moorea. With the love of travel in our bones the big decision for our November 2016 holidays was... where shall we go? I wanted to take Wayne somewhere special for his 70th Birthday, somewhere hot, somewhere neither of us had been to before. Our travel agent at Transat Travel in Richmond Centre was great giving us so many wonderful ideas...and so many brochures we looked at, decisions, decisions. Shall it be a beach holiday, cruise, this side of the world or Europe? The one brochure that caught our interest was a small cruise ship in the South Pacific. So our decision was made. I checked out numerous travelers' reviews and there weren't any complaints, it was all positive and glowing comments. So we were off on our adventure on October 30th and flew out of YVR to LAX in the morning. Our flight to Papeete, Tahiti departed at 5 pm on Air Tahiti Nui, and after an 8 hour flight we arrived Fa'a'a International Airport, Tahiti, French Polynesia at 10 pm to a lovely warm evening. We'd prepaid airport transport (Tahiti Nui Travel.com) to the "Intercontinental Tahiti Resort and they were there to greet us on arrival with beautifully scented flower lei's. When we arrived at the resort we checked in quickly. Our luggage was loaded onto a cute little transport vehicle and we climbed up into the seating area to be taken to our Overwater Lagoon Motu Bungalow. It was a lovely big suite and had been recently renovated. We were thrilled. The next morning we opened the curtains and slid open the 3 sliding door panels and what a stunning view we had looking out over the turquoise water to Moorea in the distance. What a way to wake up. We'd a lovely big balcony to enjoy the views from, with a table and chairs, two loungers, a love seat couch and wicker We were greeted at the dock and our luggage was taken to our cabin. It was so quick and boarding was a breeze. We were directed to the Grand Salon where we were checked in with great ease, receiving our room cards and taken by a hostess to our cabin. Our luggage was already in our balcony room on deck 6. The ship is small and accommodates 332 guests, staff of 217 with a crew-to-guest ratio of 1:1.5. It's not a cruise for kids, nothing for them to do. The majority of passengers are age 30 plus to 80's, it was really a nice mix of ages. This is an All-inclusive cruise...all meals, complimentary room service, complimentary beverages, includes beer, select wines and spirits, soft drinks, bottled water, fridge in your room, all shipboard entertainment, all onboard gratuities for dining staff and room stewards. Complimentary water sports and snorkel gear. For dining, there were 3 restaurants: L'Etoile - An elegant main dining room, La Veranda - Indoor and al fresco seating, and Le Grill - a more casual dining experience for breakfast and poolside lunches. There's a Grand Salon for live entertainment, Lounge and disco, Casino, spa, boutique, fitness centre, piano and pool bars. This was a trip of a lifetime and we thoroughly enjoyed it. We were totally pampered on the ship. The majority of staff were Pilipino and were amazing and spoiled us. We had so much fun with them and they were always upbeat and made us feel so special. There were so many nice people we met, and it was nice because being a smaller ship you get to recognize people and they you. Our highlight, I think of the whole trip, (although the whole trip was so memorable), was the day they took us to their own private island they called Motu Mahana. Wow, what a wonderful lazy
day sitting on the loungers looking out over the beautiful lagoon. Sipping a cocktail out of a coconut. People were snorkeling, swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding and of course sunbathing. The staff had brought all the food for the BBQ (burgers, hotdogs, pork, chicken, salads, desserts and fruit and drink (aka booze) from the ship. It was such a different but more personal cruise catering to a smaller amount of guests. We'd love to do it again, perhaps going to some different islands that the ship goes to. Being a smaller vessel it can get into areas where the big ships can't. We did a few excursions and enjoyed them all. You do need beach shoes for the water as there's rough coral and rocks when you land at two of the beaches but it's worth having them anytime you're in the water. Welcome Mat BAINS, Deesh JENKS,Pat LEVECQUE, Fiona THOMAS, Ken TIMMS, Laurie WAIN, Michele Page 5 This was the most wonderful trip and we had a blast. -Wayne and Ishbel Kennedy WorkSafeBC is celebrating its 100 th birthday this year. While they are still developing all the plans/events around this, they are asking for some help. WorkSafeBC is asking the retirees if they have any interesting artifacts/mementos from the old days: photos, posters, safety equipment, hazard alerts, etc. anything that might be of interest to current staff or even clients. (Perhaps for a display or archive.) They are requesting any interesting stories from the old days. If you would like to participate, or have any mementos to contribute, please contact Laine Dalby, Editor, 604-232-5809, WorkSafeBC, 6951 Westminster Hwy, Richmond, BC.
Christmas Lunch 2016 Page 6 84 members attended the Christmas lunch on December 6, 2016 at the beautiful Marine Drive Golf Course for a very traditional Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Our key note speaker was Joanne McConnachie, Executive Director of Operations. Several prizes were won by guests, and everyone seemed to have a great time visiting, catching up and sharing stories, if the laughter, jokes, and smiles were anything to go by. I had the pleasure of calling out the names of the prize winners from the tickets and hadn t taken my reading glasses with me. About a dozen people offered theirs - I guess we re all in the same boat! Thank you to whoever lent me some pretty fancy ones from Palm Springs. Bob Stewart received his lunch for free since he turned 75 in the year 2016. Quite a few new members were also in attendance and welcomed by the others, and it was a treat to meet and greet new faces and old friends. Thanks to Werner Schulz who took some amazing pictures of this fun event. - Wendy
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Contact Us SOCIAL COMMITTEE Margaret Perry 604-583-0025 PHONE COMMITTE Rina Luchin 604-253-8547 TREASURER Carol Sallenback 604-535-3090 csallenback@me.com EDITOR, NEWSLETTER Wendy Pantages wpantages@telus.net GENERAL INQUIRIES info@wcbra.com Page 8 Sign up to receive your newsletter via email and send your e-mail address to info@wcbra.com Send in letters, articles, recipes, pictures and comments to your editor at wpantages@telus.net Remember Dues are Due Notice: If you know of any member who is not getting the newsletter, please let us know. We have had a few reports of members not getting the newsletter, and it may be due to the fact that our server stops or limits transmitting when our Associate Director is sending out the newsletter in short, a technical glitch. In the old days, the system would advise that an e-mail did not go through now it doesn t. Our web master has also suggested that everyone add the name of Carol Christopher, our Associate Director who sends out the newsletter by e-mail, to the list of accepted contacts as the newsletter could be sitting in the junk folder. Calendar of Events for 2017 UPDATED WEB SITE www.wcbra.com Thurs, April 13, 2017 Wed, Oct. 4, 2017 Wed, Dec. 6, 2017 11:00 a.m. AGM, lunch Semi-Annual Business Meeting Christmas Lunch At the AGM we will have our usual election of Directors. This is very important if we are to carry on with the work we have been doing for the members. If you have thought of volunteering and wish to put your name forward to join our Executive, please contact any of the present Directors. You can also nominate someone from the floor during the meeting or someone absent from the meeting but with their consent. We have a breakfast meeting about 6 or 8 times per year which is a lot of fun. In Memoriam BROWN, John d. Jan. 28, 2017 LOUGHEED, Dr. Lawrence d. Feb. 7, 2017 MULLAN, Steve d. Feb. 6, 2017 POSTMA, Dr. Klaas